Railroad-spike.



I R A I L R 0 A D S P I K E l I APPLICATION III; 1111111111111 1.

1,029,983, Patented June 18, 1912.

STAS PATNT RAILROAD-spike.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR B. FnL'rs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hickory Point, in the county of Montgomery, State of Tennessee, have invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to spikes and particularly that class utilized in securing rails to ties in a construction of railroad.

The object of the invention resides in the provision of a spike of the character named which includes means for automatically effecting the locking of the spike against removal when same has been embedded in a tie.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a spike which includes locking means of the character 'named so constructed and arranged that same will be operative to released position by the insertion of a prying implement beneath the head of the spike and thereby permit the latter to be removed through the manipulation of said implement.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and com bination of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing the invention in detail ref erence will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several views and in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a spike constructed in accordance with the invention with the locking device in normal or looking position, and Fig. 2 a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a prying implement inserted beneath the head of the spike and the locking device actuated thereby to released position.

Referring to the drawing the spike is shown as comprising a body portion 10, the lower end of which is provided with the usual point 11. The upper end of the body 10 is enlarged laterally on one side to form a shoulder 12, the purpose of which latter will presently appear. The extreme upper end of the body 10 terminates in the usual Specification of Letters Patent.

Application .filed September 15, 1911.

Patented June 18, 1912*.

Serial No. 6519,4132.

head 13. Formed in the side of the body 10 opposite to that adjacent the shoulder 12 is a longitudinal groove 1d whichcommuni cates at its lower end with a transverse opening 15 extending through the spike. Pivoted on the groove 14: is a lever 16 the upper end of which terminates in a loop 17 while the lower end is directed laterally through the opening 15, as at 18. The upper end of the lever 16 is normally forced outwardly of the spike by means of a leaf spring 19 which is suitably secured to the inner wall of the groove 14 and engages the upper end of the lever 16. The outer end of the laterally directed portion 18 terminates in a knife edge directed toward the upper end of the spike. When the upper end of the lever 16 is moved to its full extent by the spring 19 the outer end of the laterally directed portion 18 of said lever will be disposed beyond the adjacent side face of the body of the spike so that it will effectually engage the tie in which the spike is embedded and positively prevent the removal of the spike maliciously or from other causes.

It will be noted that the shoulder 12 serves to prevent the spike from being driven into the tie to such an extent that the upper end of the lever 16 would be forced into contact with the tie and move inwardly of the spike against the influence of the spring 19 so as to shift the outer end of the laterally directed portion 18 of the lever out of locking relation to the tie.

In order to remove the spike from the tie it is only necessary to insert a prying implement indicated at 20 beneath the head 13 on the same side of the body of the spike as the groove 14. This application of the prying implement will engage and force the upper end 17 of the lever 113 inwardly against the influence of the spring 19 and thus move the outer end of the laterally directed portion 18 out of engagement with the tie when further manipulation of the outer end of the prying implement downwardly will effect the removal of the spike as is obvious.

What is claimed, is

A spike comprising a body having an enlarged head on its upper end and a pointed lower end, said body having a longitudinal groove in its front face and a transverse opening extending therethrough and communicat-ing with the longitudinal groove at the lower end of the latter, a lever pivotally mounted in said longitudinal groove having its lower end directed laterally through said transverse opening, a spring constantly tending to force the upper end of said lever outwardly of the body whereby the free terminal of the laterally directed lower end of the lever is normally held beyond the adjacent front face of the body, and an enlarged portion on the front face of the body opposite to that provided with the longitudinal OSCAR B. FELTS.

WVitnesses J. L. ADKINS, G. E. WVATsoN.

Gopies'of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

